Vanilla – Sweet Mood Enhancer

Vanilla – Sweet Mood Enhancer

Vanilla pudding, vanilla sauce or vanilla crescents – a lot of sweet Treats today are flavoured with vanilla. At Christmas time especially the vanilla, which is, after saffron, the second most expensive spice in the world, high season. The vanilla, however, cannot only convince with their distinctive taste and pleasant smell, but also with their health-promoting effect.

Effect of vanilla

The spice vanilla and, in particular, its main aroma substance Vanillin is said to have various positive effects on our body. So vanilla is to act as a stimulant and, therefore, in the case of depressive moods or anxiety can help.

In the case of anxiety, the calming effect of vanilla also to our nerve noticeable – so many candles, bath products and body care products according to the vanilla smell. To recommend products with a vanilla scent, are the sweet tooth but also because vanilla is supposed to brake the desire for Sweets.

Often vanilla perfume and other cosmetics will be added as Vanillin substances, the pheromones (sexual attractants) of the people is chemically very similar. This chemical Similarity, the aphrodisiac effect that is said to have the vanilla is probably, due.

Vanilla as a drug?

In addition, vanilla is supposed to have, when it is externally applied as an antiseptic – that is to say, for example, in the case of wounds the risk of infection lower. In addition, the vanilla is attributed to but it is also an anti-inflammatory property. Therefore, the spice is in mushroom to the skin diseases such as eczema and atopic dermatitis, especially effective.

In the current studies, it is currently checked, if vanilla can take an influence on cancer diseases. It is believed that the spice has a protective effect on our cells, and thus mutations in the genome, such as occur in the case of cancer, can prevent. Evidence not available at the Moment.

The Main Aroma Substance Vanillin

Real vanilla is one of the world’s most sought-after spices, but each year, only produces about 1000 tons of vanilla. Thus, the demand for vanilla could not be covered by Far. Therefore, the main aroma substance Vanillin is produced today mainly artificially – mostly real vanilla is only used for particularly high-quality pastries.

To meet the needs of vanilla, are produced every year, about 12,000 tons of artificial vanilla extract real vanilla contains Vanillin, however, is still about 40 other ingredients. The great advantage of the artificially produced Vanillin is that it can be relatively inexpensively produced. For example, it is included in the jaws frequently used vanillin sugar.

In contrast to the synthetically produced vanillin sugar is vanilla sugar made with sugar and vanilla, and is recognizable by the small black dots caused the Crushing of the seeds. However, more and more products with artificial Vanillin today contain such black dots. As a result, the impression that for the manufacture of the product real vanilla was used.

Tip: to make real vanilla sugar yourself, you only need an air-tightly closable vessel, and a scraped vanilla bean. The Pod together with the sugar in the bowl and six to eight weeks. The more vanilla beans are added, the more aromatic the sugar.

Vanilla: use in the kitchen

Vanilla is used in cooking, especially for Seasoning of cakes. Anyone who has experimented in cooking, you can use vanilla but is also used to Flavor savory dishes such as meat or vegetables.

Real vanilla is made up of 35 percent water, 25 percent sugar, 15 percent fat and 6 percent minerals. In addition, vanilla has a high cellulose proportion can amount up to 30 percent. The share of the main aroma substance Vanillin is between three and four percent.

For Seasoning in the kitchen, mostly the pulp of the vanilla bean is used, as it contains the majority of aromatic substances. In order to get to the flesh of the fruit, the vanilla pod cut open. Then the pulp is scraped together with the black seeds from the Pod.

Since the Pod itself also contains many aromatic substances, it should also be used: their aroma substances can, for example, by cooking the vanilla bean in milk or cream won. Subsequently, the liquid can be used, for example, for a vanilla sauce.

Origin of the vanilla

The vanilla belongs to the Orchid plants and is originally from Mexico. In Central and South America it has been used for centuries to Refine the bitter cocoa, but also as an aphrodisiac. After Europe, the vanilla came out only by the Spanish conquerors.

Worldwide, over 100 different vanilla exist-varieties, but only 15 varieties of aroma to deliver tables of capsules. The most vanilla places is the spice vanilla. Although it has its origins in Mexico, is now cultivated mainly in Madagascar and other Islands in the Indian ocean. Particularly well known is the Bourbon vanilla that is in demand in Europe because of their intense flavor. It comes from the island of La Réunion, formerly bore the name of Ile Bourbon.